Posts tagged productivity

7 Ways to Stay Productive When You Are Exhausted on OPEN ForumPulling an all-nighter to meet a deadline? Don’t worry. Put on the coffee, take a deep breath and follow these tips to stay sharp and get the work done. 1. Disable all computer distractions.2. Turn up the tunes that you don’t know.3. Take a short nap.4. Ingest coffee, sugar and caffeine.5. Exercise.6. Stand up.7. Slice and dice it. (via 7 Ways To Stay Productive When You Are ExhaustedThe New OPEN Forum)

7 Ways to Stay Productive When You Are Exhausted on OPEN Forum

Pulling an all-nighter to meet a deadline? Don’t worry. Put on the coffee, take a deep breath and follow these tips to stay sharp and get the work done.

1. Disable all computer distractions.
2. Turn up the tunes that you don’t know.
3. Take a short nap.
4. Ingest coffee, sugar and caffeine.
5. Exercise.
6. Stand up.
7. Slice and dice it.

(via 7 Ways To Stay Productive When You Are ExhaustedThe New OPEN Forum)

Click here to embiggen (see full infographic) on OPEN Forum Want to keep your employees happy and motivated? This infographic reveals business-killing managerial mistakes you should avoid.

Click here to embiggen (see full infographic) on OPEN Forum

Want to keep your employees happy and motivated? This infographic reveals business-killing managerial mistakes you should avoid.

fastcompany: You probably heard that a happy employee is a productive one who can boost the bottom line. How much? Here are some numbers: 33% higher profitability (Gallup) 43% more productivity (Hay Group) 37% higher sales (Shawn Achor) 300% more innovation (HBR) 51% lower turnover (Gallup) 50% less safety incidents (Babcock Marine Clyde) 66% decrease in sick leave (Forbes) 125% less burnout (HBR) Here, some tips for staying happy at work These numbers reinforce the company culture movement and why it is vital for companies to invest in their employees.

fastcompany:

You probably heard that a happy employee is a productive one who can boost the bottom line. How much?

Here are some numbers:

  • 33% higher profitability (Gallup)
  • 43% more productivity (Hay Group)
  • 37% higher sales (Shawn Achor)
  • 300% more innovation (HBR)
  • 51% lower turnover (Gallup)
  • 50% less safety incidents (Babcock Marine Clyde)
  • 66% decrease in sick leave (Forbes)
  • 125% less burnout (HBR)

Here, some tips for staying happy at work

These numbers reinforce the company culture movement and why it is vital for companies to invest in their employees.

Introducing the “Lean” Meeting on OPEN Forum“Death by meeting” is a common complaint, the lament usually being one of frequency, length, or lack of productivity. Start with a simple three-point strategy to make your meetings more lean:1. Limit yourself to keep it under 12 minutes.2. Only have meetings around a single purpose or goal.3. Unsocial meetings. (via Hold More Meetings–Just Keep Them Short | | The New OPEN ForumThe New OPEN Forum)

Introducing the “Lean” Meeting on OPEN Forum

“Death by meeting” is a common complaint, the lament usually being one of frequency, length, or lack of productivity.

Start with a simple three-point strategy to make your meetings more lean:

1. Limit yourself to keep it under 12 minutes.
2. Only have meetings around a single purpose or goal.
3. Unsocial meetings.

(via Hold More Meetings–Just Keep Them Short | | The New OPEN ForumThe New OPEN Forum)

Goodbye 100-Hour Workweek: Why Working 9 to 5 is Better for Business on OPEN Forum Here’s how working 9 to 5 (or another 40-hour-a-week schedule) can help you and your business succeed: 1. Helps you avoid burnout 2. Increases employee retention 3. Showcases company values 4. Boosts productivity 5. Forces delegation 6. Makes more financial sense 7. Understands the long-term goal How can you get started? Read more here and try to work eight hours for one day instead of your usual 10 to 15. Focus only on the things that really need to get done. You will be surprised how productive you can be on a limited amount of time.

Goodbye 100-Hour Workweek: Why Working 9 to 5 is Better for Business on OPEN Forum

Here’s how working 9 to 5 (or another 40-hour-a-week schedule) can help you and your business succeed:

1. Helps you avoid burnout

2. Increases employee retention

3. Showcases company values

4. Boosts productivity

5. Forces delegation

6. Makes more financial sense

7. Understands the long-term goal

How can you get started? Read more here and try to work eight hours for one day instead of your usual 10 to 15. Focus only on the things that really need to get done. You will be surprised how productive you can be on a limited amount of time.

How to Make Better Decisions Every Day by OPEN Forum To improve rational decision-making ability we need to do four things: Widen our options Reality-test our assumptions Attain some distance Prepare to be wrong So, how do we go about applying these four elements into our decision making? In Chip and Dan Heath’s new book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, the authors introduce a variety of decision-making strategies and techniques that can help. Click here to read about a few worth trying. (via How to Make Better Decisions Every Day | | The New OPEN ForumThe New OPEN Forum)

How to Make Better Decisions Every Day by OPEN Forum

To improve rational decision-making ability we need to do four things:

  1. Widen our options
  2. Reality-test our assumptions
  3. Attain some distance
  4. Prepare to be wrong

So, how do we go about applying these four elements into our decision making? In Chip and Dan Heath’s new book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, the authors introduce a variety of decision-making strategies and techniques that can help. Click here to read about a few worth trying.

(via How to Make Better Decisions Every Day | | The New OPEN ForumThe New OPEN Forum)

Email Overload: 7 Ways to Hack Your Inbox by OPEN ForumEmail getting the best of you and draining your productivity? These 7 tips can help you get a handle on email once and for all.1. Dedicate the time needed to find a solution.2. Separate business from personal emails.3. Have a backup plan in place.4. Set up a company email policy.5. Set personal rules to follow.6. Set smartphone rules for reading emails.7. Create folders.If you struggle with effectively managing your inbox, read more here and take time now to do something about it. Follow the suggestions above and, before you know it, you’ll see measurable improvements in time management, efficiency and productivity … and who doesn’t want that? (via Email Overload: 7 Ways to Hack Your Inbox | The New OPEN Forum)

Email Overload: 7 Ways to Hack Your Inbox by OPEN Forum

Email getting the best of you and draining your productivity? These 7 tips can help you get a handle on email once and for all.

1. Dedicate the time needed to find a solution.
2. Separate business from personal emails.
3. Have a backup plan in place.
4. Set up a company email policy.
5. Set personal rules to follow.
6. Set smartphone rules for reading emails.
7. Create folders.

If you struggle with effectively managing your inbox, read more here and take time now to do something about it. Follow the suggestions above and, before you know it, you’ll see measurable improvements in time management, efficiency and productivity … and who doesn’t want that?

(via Email Overload: 7 Ways to Hack Your Inbox | The New OPEN Forum)

The 4 Smartest Things you Can Do Every Morning by OPEN ForumThese four simple morning habits can change you from a harried slob in a bathrobe to a paragon of productivity.1. Check your to-do list2. Do something for yourself3. Have a routine4. Start with something big… or small (via The 4 Smartest Things You Can Do Every Morning | The New OPEN Forum)

The 4 Smartest Things you Can Do Every Morning by OPEN Forum

These four simple morning habits can change you from a harried slob in a bathrobe to a paragon of productivity.

1. Check your to-do list
2. Do something for yourself
3. Have a routine
4. Start with something big… or small

(via The 4 Smartest Things You Can Do Every Morning | The New OPEN Forum)

Did you know you can save eight workdays a year using keyboard shortcuts? This infographic by OPEN Forum will teach you time saving computer tricks. (Via OPEN Forum)

Did you know you can save eight workdays a year using keyboard shortcuts? This infographic by OPEN Forum will teach you time saving computer tricks.

(Via OPEN Forum)

fastcompany: Busy Is The New Lazy If you’re telling everybody that you’re busy all the time, it’s time to rethink your ideas about productivity. So why do we keep doing all this humblebragging about how busy we are? It’s a question Choi investigates thoughtfully: She observes that people who are “legitimately occupied” with work or family rarely play the “too busy” card (clearly, we don’t know the same people)—or, may even go out of their way to make a connectionbecause they’ve been so swamped. To Choi, when we say “busy,” we’re really trying to say something else—although what exactly that might be depends on the harried soul that’s complaining. She supplies some translations: I’m busy = I’m important.Being busy gives people a sense they’re needed and significant, Choi says. It’s also a sign saying that you’re about to be on-ramped into somebody’s misguided ego trip. I’m busy = I’m giving you an excuse.Saying that you’re busy is a handy way to outsource your responsibility to your irresponsibility. Since you’re always distracted, you don’t have to do anything for anybody. I’m busy = I’m afraid.Look above at the “I’m important” part. Whether the speaker knows it or not, complaining of busyness is a subtle cry for help, one that reassures us that yes, we are in demand. In this way, busyness functions as a kind of laziness. When we fill our schedules with appointments and hands with phones, we divest ourselves of downtime. When we’re endlessly doing, it’s hard to be mindful of what we’re doing. How to eradicate busyness Of course, it’s a interdependent issue. It’s hard to have downtime if your bosses subscribe to what Anne Marie Slaughter calls our time macho culture, “a relentless competition to work harder, stay later, pull more all-nighters, travel around the world and bill the extra hours that the international date line affords you.” But don’t let that excuse suffice. You can convince your bosses—if you know how to approach the conversation. Busyness is Not a Virtue Read the full story here.

fastcompany:

Busy Is The New Lazy

If you’re telling everybody that you’re busy all the time, it’s time to rethink your ideas about productivity.

So why do we keep doing all this humblebragging about how busy we are? It’s a question Choi investigates thoughtfully: She observes that people who are “legitimately occupied” with work or family rarely play the “too busy” card (clearly, we don’t know the same people)—or, may even go out of their way to make a connectionbecause they’ve been so swamped.

To Choi, when we say “busy,” we’re really trying to say something else—although what exactly that might be depends on the harried soul that’s complaining.

She supplies some translations:

I’m busy = I’m important.
Being busy gives people a sense they’re needed and significant, Choi says. It’s also a sign saying that you’re about to be on-ramped into somebody’s misguided ego trip.

I’m busy = I’m giving you an excuse.
Saying that you’re busy is a handy way to outsource your responsibility to your irresponsibility. Since you’re always distracted, you don’t have to do anything for anybody.

I’m busy = I’m afraid.
Look above at the “I’m important” part. Whether the speaker knows it or not, complaining of busyness is a subtle cry for help, one that reassures us that yes, we are in demand.

In this way, busyness functions as a kind of laziness. When we fill our schedules with appointments and hands with phones, we divest ourselves of downtime. When we’re endlessly doing, it’s hard to be mindful of what we’re doing.

How to eradicate busyness

Of course, it’s a interdependent issue. It’s hard to have downtime if your bosses subscribe to what Anne Marie Slaughter calls our time macho culture, “a relentless competition to work harder, stay later, pull more all-nighters, travel around the world and bill the extra hours that the international date line affords you.”

But don’t let that excuse suffice. You can convince your bosses—if you know how to approach the conversation.

Busyness is Not a Virtue

Read the full story here.